Bay naturalist, writer John Page Williams honored

John Page Williams, senior naturalist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, earned the honorific rank Tuesday night in Annapolis in recognition of his 40-year career teaching and writing about the bay.

John R. Griffin, chief of staff for Gov. Martin O'Malley and former natural resources secretary, presented Williams with a framed certificate proclaiming him the newest "Admiral of the Bay."

John Page Williams checks some oysters

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

John Page Williams with a handful of oysters. The senior naturalist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was honored for four decades of conservation and environmental education work.

John Page Williams with a handful of oysters. The senior naturalist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was honored for four decades of conservation and environmental education work. (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)

Williams created the bay foundation’s education program in the 1970s, modeling it on his earlier experience with Outward Bound and in teaching at an Episcopal school in Virginia. He also led CBF’s development program and early outreach efforts as a writer and lecturer.

He's published numerous articles in newspapers and boating and fishing magazines, and three books about the bay.

Joe Evans, with the Department of Natural Resources' fisheries service, called Williams "one of a kind" for his "steady environmental impact" over the last four decades.

"On most any given day you’ll find John Page Williams on the water, testing fish finders, lures and tackle," Evans wrote several years ago. "Or he might be bending the ears of policy makers and politicians with his well-tuned conservation thesis.

"No doubt he’ll be wearing a fleece Chesapeake Bay Foundation vest, a Coastal Conservation Association fishing hat, and his heart on his sleeve," Evans added. "And he will talk."